Suprises
by chapellefan
Summary: After a long day in the battle simulator, Shepard decided to relax in his new apartment. But when Jack comes over with a surprise, he comes away with something more unexpected... and touching.*SPOILERS* for Citadel DLC. Rated T for language.


**(Disclaimer: **The following is a non-profit fanfiction. I do not own or claim to own the Property known as Mass Effect. Mass Effect 1, 2 and 3 are copyrighted to the Bioware Corporation, Microsoft Studios, Electronic Arts and others. Please support the official release.)

**Surprises**

Shepard, after a match in the battle simulator had received and e-mail from Jack. He had been glad since his duties for the war effort had parted him with Jack for long periods of time. He needed to remember to thank Anderson for lending Shepard his apartment (even if it did, in fact, lead to a series of events involving a conspiracy against Shepard). But now, Michael Donovan Shepard could finally invite Jack up to his cabin for a little 'private' time.

She teased, "So what? A private cabin in a stealth frigate isn't enough for you?"

"I'm watching the place for a friend." Shepard replied. "What are you doing?"

Jack leaned over to Shepard's ear and smiled. "It's a surprise."

The Commander couldn't stop the devilish grin from spreading across his face.

"I like surprises…"

"Good," Jack said. "Get undressed."

The next thing Shepard knew, he was lying on his front while Jack squatted over him. Also, Jack seemed to be holding some sort of drawing device.

"This isn't what I was expecting…" He said, understating the obvious. He 'knew' Jack liked to experiment, but this was ridiculous!

"That's why they call it a surprise, dumbass. Quit squirming!"

Shepard couldn't help but be skeptical. "You're licensed for this, right?"

Jack scolded him "Shepard, slinging ink is art. You don't need a license to make art."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure you- Ow!" He winced, feeling a sharp jab.

"Quit. Squirming."

"You still haven't told me what I'm getting,"

Jack opened up her omni-tool and powered up the television in front of Shepard. Shepard, still sore from the pain couldn't make out the blur Jack had shown.

"You're getting this. Hope you like it, 'cause, it's too late now."

Shepard, unsure what it was, made a half-lie. "It's nice."

"Nice?" Jack said, shaking her head. "It's not about nice. On this one bad drop on Palaven, I had to pull Rodriguez out from under a pile of husks. If I hadn't recognized her ugly fucking boot, I wouldn't have seen her. She'd have died under there."

Jack lifted one of her legs and dismounted from Shepard, allowing him to roll over. "Yeah. Okay. We're done."

Jack opened up her omni-tool again and revealed the tattoo in full clarity. It was the Greek letter of Omega, the capital sign, and in it was a rather intimidating looking skull in it.

"Good enough for an ID?" Shepard asked.

"Good enough, so that if you're ever hurt, barely breathing, lying in a pile of the ass end of this war-"

And then he understood. It was the way Jack voice cracked, the way her eyes began to well up, and the way she talked about saving her students from certain death that made him understand.

"Hey," He interrupted, wrapping his arms around her.

"You worry too much."

Jack, taken by surprise, lifted one arm and then the other and hugged Shepard with all of her might as she buried herself in the crook of his neck.

(**A/N: **For those curious on how to get the Jack invitation, you must complete one match in the Arena, go back to your apartment, get an e-mail and then complete one match with Jack in the arena. I knew there was always a reason Jack was my favorite love interest in Mass Effect. This scene alone made me tear up and really appreciate her character. (Though that the tattoo disappears during the final push to Earth kinda makes me grumble.) On the whole, I 'liked' Citadel. The whole conspiracy subplot was a bit cliché, but as with the content with your squadmates, I felt it was perfectly justified since it would be their last outing. (I particularly enjoyed Samantha's 'Kill Bill' moment and Grunt's night out) And even if this particular scene was cheesy, look at it this way: At least 'my' pairing doesn't involve Tali singing or making bad FTL jokes.

God Bless, everyone. )


End file.
